Burke and Field to face Reading

OLIVER Burke and Sam Field will play for Albion's Premier League 2 side against Reading at Aggborough this evening (ko 7pm).

Tahvon Campbell will also be in the squad following his return from Solihull Moors, much to the delight of under-23s boss James Shan.

“We’ve seen how big an influence the first team players coming and playing with the U23s can have," said Shan.

“In the first half against Walsall in the Checkatrade Trophy when we had Sam Field in there we did very well.

“And in our game against Shrewsbury in the same competition Oli Burke looked like the one big threat we had, as he is physically mature and gives you a great chance.

“We’ve also got Tahvon Campbell back in the team, so that gives us three big players involved to help us compete in the game.

“For the first time in a long time we’ve had a week to get out on the grass, develop the players and work on things in more detail than we’ve been able to recently because of the run of games.

“Reading are going strong. They’ve got a number of players that have been in their academy and that age band for a year or two now so it'll be an interesting match."

Shan also spoke about young midfielder Jack Chambers, who sustained a broken leg on Saturday playing for the under-18s.

“I’ve spoken to Jack regularly. I know he’s had his operation and that seems to have been a success, but we’re obviously gutted for the lad," he added.

“He’s a real professional in terms of everything he does and he’s stepped up to the U23s for a lot of this season and done really well for us.

“Jack was the first on the WhatsApp group today to wish the team good luck, which tells you a lot about his character, so we hope he has a speedy recovery and he’ll get all the support he needs from the staff here.”